Thanks to all who've reviewed. You know I love you guys, and that I'm writing just for you.
I thought I'd have a hard time because Kate is dead – or so they say, but I'm still in denial – but it seems that writing keeps her alive. Eeek, I'm freaking myself out! Lol.
Special shout-out to cheezmunky, for helping me with the Steve Adler thing. Hee.
Keep those reviews coming!
PART THREE – BREACH
Three months later
"DiNozzo," she heard him answer his phone. "Steve! …No way. Harris is in town? And Parker? …Reunion?" His face fell. "Oh, I don't know about that, man." There was a long pause. "I'll pass. I'll just give 'em a call. Yeah, okay. Okay, bye."
There was a click as he shut his phone closed, followed by a heavy sigh. She couldn't help it – she looked up across her where Tony sat. He felt her worried gaze on him and his head snapped up to look at her.
"Everything okay?" she mouthed.
He nodded. "Fine," he lied.
Kate shot him a don't-lie-to-me look and glanced around her. Gibbs was down in Autopsy with Ducky, checking out the latest corpse. McGee tapping away at the keyboard, preoccupied with the copious amount of paperwork that was stacked up in his workstation. She got up from her desk and walked over to Tony's. She rested her hands on his shoulders.
"Okay, give me an honest answer, Tony," she said, rubbing his shoulders gently. "What's going on?"
He sighed, took her hands off his shoulders, turned around and captured her hands in his, stroking them absentmindedly. "Some of our frat brothers are in Baltimore for the night. We were supposed to get together, have a beer or two and talk."
"So what's the problem? Sounds like fun."
He raised an eyebrow at her, and she laughed. "I meant fun for you guys. Not me."
He cracked a small smile and looked into her eyes. "We have plans, Kate, remember? Dinner and movie at my place?"
She caressed his cheek lovingly. "Wow, you actually chose me over them? You surprise me everyday, Tony DiNozzo."
He pressed a kiss into the palm that was on his cheek and smiled up at her. "I try."
"You should go," she told him. "We can do dinner and a movie any old time."
He shook his head. "We had plans first, I – "
" – You are adorable, you know that? But it's not everyday that several of your frat brothers come to Baltimore. It's only one night. It won't kill us to be apart for one night, baby." She smiled tenderly at him. "Well, it won't kill me, I don't know about you…" She wiggled her eyebrows at him.
"Tease," he said, pulling her down to sit on his lap and giving her a chaste kiss.
"Offer's going…going…"
"Only if you're sure," he said quickly.
"Positive. I'll hang with Abby or someone. Don't worry. I can share you," she winked.
He pressed a kiss into her hair. "Thanks, Kate."
They sat there like that for a while, until she piped up. "Wait – Steve Steve?"
He looked at her quizzically.
"Steve Adler?"
His eyes narrowed as he understood. "Oh. You dated him, right?" he asked flatly.
A smile crept onto Kate's face. "Tony, you aren't jealous, are you?"
"I'm not," he said, but the grumpy look on his face told her otherwise.
She cupped his face in her hands, gently turning his head to look at her. "Hey – you have nothing to be jealous about, okay?" She gave him a gentle, loving kiss and smiled into his mouth when she felt him kiss her back.
Someone cleared their throat loudly, and the two jumped apart as though electrocuted. They looked guiltily at each other and said in unison, "Sorry, Gibbs."
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Tony woke up with his head pounding horribly. He felt the warm sunlight on his face, probably streaming in through the slats in the blinds. The air in the room smelled like stale beer and sweat.
Slowly, he opened his eyes, first the right eye, and then the left. He winced at the sudden brightness and clutched his head as he sat up, feeling his muscles ache.
He looked around wide-eyed, not recognizing his surroundings.
Where the hell was he?
Panicking, he looked down at himself.
He wasn't wearing any clothes.
Shit. Ohshitohshitohshitohshit.
His heart pounding, he got off the bed, picked up his clothes that were scattered all over the floor, and got dressed.
Nothing appeared to be missing from his wallet, and he still had his keys, PDA and shoes. Still, his heart sunk deeper and deeper as he realized what he had just done the night before.
He had cheated on Kate.
Granted, he didn't remember any of it, and he knew he must've been out of it pretty badly because he would've never done this if he were sober, but he still cheated on her.
He was disgusted with himself – even more so when a quick search of the apartment he was in turned up no clues as to how he had ended up here or with whom he had slept with.
His head was pounding harder than ever, and he felt like he was about to throw up any minute now. He quickly got out of the apartment and stood outside the building, taking note of his surroundings. After making a note of where he was on his PDA, he hailed a cab home with only one thought in his head:
He had to tell Kate what he had done.
But the question is, how? How did you tell the one you loved – yes, he loved Kate Todd – that you had hurt her? How do you tell that person you've betrayed their trust?
His insides gave a mighty lurch as the cabbie pulled up in front of his apartment building. After paying him, he hurried up to his apartment as fast as he could (which, considering his current situation, wasn't very fast at all), threw up in the toilet, and passed out in a cold sweat on his bed.